Effects of the environmental factors on the PAHs degradation

Abstract

Because of low solubility and chemically stable structure, biodegradation rate of PAHs is extremely low. For the efficient cleanup of polluted PAHs in natural environments, techniques enhancing the biodegradation rate of PAHs are required. In this study the effect of electron acceptor, oxygen, trace organic materials, solubilizer or ozone combined with PAHs degrading microorganisms were investigated in the sediment slurry (1/3 diluted with seawater) supplemented with 100 ppm (w/v-sediment) of pyrene. After 24 days, 36∼49% of pyrene was reduced at 10 ℃ and 63∼88% at 25℃ when the treatments were performed. The removal rate in untreated controls were 25% and 89%, respectively. The removal rate of pyrene was increased by 1.4 to 2 times when treated at 10 ℃ although the effect was not obvious at 25 ℃. The result implies that artificial treatment was more effective when temperature was low.